Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn. I thank the Senator for raising it. My Department has received the discussion document from the National Competitiveness Council entitled, Maths and National Competitiveness. It is a helpful input into the debate on the role of numeracy and, in particular, mathematics in primary and post-primary education.

I welcome the introduction to the discussion document. It highlights many of the initiatives under way to improve the quality of teaching and learning to ensure the outcomes for students in this curricular area continue to improve in the coming years. The introduction sets the context for the rest of the document. The initiatives include the publication of the national literacy and numeracy strategy last year, the introduction of project maths in post-primary schools, the prioritisation of continuing professional development for mathematics teachers, the funding by my Department of a postgraduate diploma in mathematics to upskill out-of-field mathematics teachers and the request to schools for greater amounts of time for the teaching of mathematics at primary and post-primary levels.

I welcome the provision of 25 bonus points by the higher education institutions for leaving certificate students who achieve a grade D3 or higher in higher level mathematics. This measure is probably the key reason for a 25% increase in the number of students who indicated that they would sit the higher level mathematics paper last month.

Initial teacher education will increase from three years to four from this September at primary level and from one year to two years at second level. In addition, the Teaching Council will be consulting on the minimum entry requirements for teacher education. There is a proposal that the entry requirements for teacher training colleges relating to leaving certificate mathematics should be a good deal higher than they are.

The discussion document is one of many the Department has received relating to mathematics in the primary and post-primary curriculum. It notes the concerns the Government has expressed on many occasions. My Department will continue to prioritise literacy and numeracy in the primary and post-primary sectors. I agree with view expressed by the National Competitiveness Council in the introduction to the document which states, "Mathematical skills are essential for enabling people to fully participate and work in a modern society". The main points raised in the document are being and will be addressed during the lifetime of the Government.